1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal having detachably mounted thereon a recording medium in which user-specific information is written, and besides the recording medium, having terminal-specific information recorded thereon, the mobile terminal performing radio communication with the recording medium mounted thereon, and also relates to a remote locking program storage medium which stores a remote locking program which is executed in such mobile terminal to lock the mobile terminal to disable at least part of functions of the mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
As mobile terminals, such as mobile telephone and PDA (Personal Data Assistant), are becoming more widely used, mobile telephones equipped with not only a mere telephone function but also various advanced functions, such as electronic mail, video telephony and electronic money, have become mobile composite information processing apparatuses for personal use.
The size and weight of mobile terminals such as these mobile telephones have been increasingly reduced, thus increasing their portability and accelerating the tendency for a user to carry the mobile terminal at all times.
One of the major problems caused by such tendency is improper usage associated with misplacing, loss, theft, and so on.
In order to solve this problem, various techniques have been proposed for remotely locking a mobile terminal to disable the functions of the mobile terminal, when misplacing, loss, theft or the like takes place (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 9-121387, 2003-70064 and 2004-127149).
With these techniques, if a mobile terminal to be locked is in a normal operating state at the time of locking operation, its functions can be disabled, thus making it possible to prevent improper usage or the like of private information or electronic money except for damage caused by the loss of the mobile terminal itself.
In recent years, mobile terminals having detachably mounted thereon a small card-type medium equipped with a memory function, such as SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card and USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) card, have been put into practical use.
The telephone number etc. of a subscriber are recorded on this USIM (SIM) card. If the USIM (SIM) card is mounted on another mobile terminal, such mobile terminal with the USIM (SIM) card can be used as a mobile terminal having the telephone number recorded on the USIM (SIM) card.
If a mobile terminal having such USIM (SIM) card mounted thereon is lost, or if the mobile terminal is stolen, then if the USIM (SIM) card mounted on the communication terminal is demounted therefrom, or if another USIM (SIM) card is mounted after the demounting, the mobile terminal no longer responds to a call made with the telephone number of the original user. Thus even if an attempt is made to remotely lock the mobile terminal to disable it, the locking is impossible, thus posing a problem in preventing improper usage.
To address the above problem, the present invention provides a mobile terminal with improved security against misplacing, loss, theft or the like, which has mounted thereon the above USIM (SIM) card or a similar recording medium in which user-specific information such as the telephone number of the user is written, and performs communication with the recording medium mounted thereon, and also provides a storage medium which stores a program which is executed in such mobile terminal to lock the mobile terminal to disable at least part of functions of the mobile terminal.